DARING TO BE DIFFERENT...

Welcome to a very special journal about daring to be different. This Summer some ignorant people have been mean to me because of how I choose to express my individuality and how I'm not afraid to stand apart from the crowd and be myself. You see, in the Summer I wear a hat. Not a baseball cap or a visor or a Summer hat...I wear a witch's hat. I wear a witch's hat because it's my favorite hat and it has a wide-brim to keep the Sun off me. But my refusal to conform to society's norm is bringing out a lot of rude behavior from people. All because they don't like my choice of hat.

There are a lot of people who wear baseball caps and people don't make fun and laugh at them on the street. I really don't see any difference between them wearing a baseball cap and me wearing a witch's hat. I assume they wear it because they're a fan of that sport and they wear it even though they're not at a game. Just like I'm a fan of Halloween and wear mine even when it's not that particular holiday.

And Dermatologists say that you should wear a wide-brimmed hat in the Summer. I've never heard them specify "but not a witch's hat." And so I wear my favorite hat because it has a wide brim and also because it reminds me of my favorite holiday/season. And I'm going to continue to wear it because I'm not going to risk getting skin cancer because some ignorant people don't approve of my choice of hat.

Canada is a free country and I'm using my freedom to be myself. A lot of people out there are too afraid to be themselves, especially in public. I honestly don't know why people have a problem with me wearing a witch's hat and so rudely laugh and call me names. I've seen people with fascial tattoos, a myriad array of piercings, and teenagers that wear their jeans down around their knees and have their underwear showing.  And they seem to be more socially accepted than me in my witch's hat. (But maybe they get laughed at too, but I don't see it). I also think that those people that do laugh at me and yell insults at me must lead very boring and bland lives if they are so afraid of people who choose to differ from the norm.

Those people are also very much like a herd of sheep or cows. Sheep follow the crowd. I am no sheep. In the history of the world there is never going to be another me, so I might as well be the best me that I can and embrace my unique individuality. I don't want to follow the crowd like a sheep, I want to live authentically and be true to myself and do so unafraid of standing apart from the crowd. I read once that "the only abnormal thing you can do is not be yourself". I love that quote.

But I really wish I could be myself and wear my favorite hat without people driving by and calling me an idiot or a bitch. That is just plain rude, ignorant, and discriminatory! And they are cowards too, because they never stop and call me a bitch and an idiot, they say it as they drive by. They're too afraid of my individuality to stop, get out of the car and say it to my face.

And example is today. I was waiting at the bus stop and this van of young guys stopped at the red light. They were laughing at me and took my picture without my permission. I ignored them. Then when the light turned green they called out "Halloween is over, Bitch!"

Why didn't they get out and say that to my face? They only said it when the light was green which shows that they are afraid of me, afraid of my strength to be myself. They are afraid of someone who dares to be different and who is not held back by conventionality.

And I think it is so wrong to take a stranger's picture without their permission. I am not a circus attraction. I am a unique individual who is not afraid to express their individuality.

Walking back to my building a group of young people (2 guys and 1 girl) who I don't know called out to me saying "You look beautiful. You always look so beautiful. It's so refreshing to see someone who is not afraid to be themselves". And he also told me "don't let other people stop you from being who you are".

That made me feel good!  

I realize this journal is a lot longer than any of my previous journals so thank-you if you read this far.